Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago is wanted by court to explain the whereabouts of a suspect he stood surety for and she jumped bail.
Ms Sandra Ngabo Katebalairwe, 40, the wife of Pastor David Ngabo, was charged with obtaining money by false pretence, forgery and uttering false documents to obtain $68,530 (Shs250m) in 2016 from Mr Jason Wu-Weiling, a Chinese national.
She denied the charges before the Buganda Road Chief Magistrate’s Court and was granted bail, having presented Mr Lukwago, Mr Henry Sempinga and Mr Benon Mugerwa as sureties.
The sureties were each bonded Shs50m, which they are supposed to pay to the court should they fail to compel the suspect to appear in court.
Ms Ngabo has since gone missing and has not attended court to answer to the charges on at least four occasions, forcing the court to turn to the sureties.
On Friday, the court remanded Mr Sempinga and Mr Mugerwa to Luzira prison until they produce the suspect or pay the Shs50m each of them was bonded.
Mr Lukwago, an advocate of the Courts of Judicature, was not in court on the day and presiding magistrate Charles Yeteise extended his summons to November 15, when he is expected to report and brief court on Ms Katabalairwe’s whereabouts.
If the sureties fail to produce the suspect and cannot pay the Shs50m, the court noted that they will be committed to prison where they will serve a six-month jail term.
Ms Ngabo is the wife of Pastor Ngabo, who gained prominence for leading prayers at the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) headquarters after the 2016 elections. Ms Ngabo, a businesswoman in Kampala, competed against Mr Lukwago for the Kampala Lord Mayor position in 2011.
It is not clear where she is but the two men (sureties) who were remanded presented to court what they called a medical form claiming that it was from a hospital in Hong Kong, China where Ms Ngabo is reportedly undergoing treatment.
However, Mr Yeteise rejected it, reasoning that the court had issued consecutive warrants of arrest against her when she jumped bail with no explanation.
Daily Monitor
